Trump's 'Send in the Feds' Threat: Chicago Officials Would Welcome Help, But Not the National Guard

CHICAGO, IL — President Donald Trump let Chicagoans know Tuesday night he hasn't forgotten about the city's epidemic of gun violence — a problem he decried during the campaign — by announcing on Twitter he was prepared to use the power of the White House to find a solution.

"If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible 'carnage' going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

His vow to directly use federal resources to address Chicago's crime issues was a response to a segment Tuesday by Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly on his show "The O'Reilly Factor."

O'Reilly was interviewing Horace Cooper, an adjunct fellow for the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research, about what can be done on a national level to stem Chicago's record-setting pace of shootings and murders.

"Absolutely, the Feds can [be called in]," Cooper said when asked about the possibility of federal involvement. "And like you said, there's been a wholesale failure on the part of the state and local community to address this really serious problem."

The segment also featured a graphic that contained the Chicago shooting statistics in Trump's tweet.

Last year, the city had 762 murders, the most since 1996, according to police data. And those homicides came amid 3,550 shootings.

The body count includes innocent victims minding their own business on the street, including a young mom walking her child to school, and youngsters who've been struck down by stray bullets and even targeted in acts of gangland revenge.

Trump's ultimatum didn't sit well with some of the president's critics, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others.

Trump's "send in the Feds" threat did have its supporters, and not just among those in the president's own administration and political party. Chance the Rapper, a Chicagoan and an outspoken opponent of the president who organized an early-voting rally against Trump during the campaign, is taking a wait-and-see approach to the idea:

But for many Chicago residents and officials, blanket opposition or support took a backseat to questioning what exactly the president was suggesting in his message.

While Trump's tweet struck an ideological chord, the specifics to what he wants to do remain unclear. The president didn't elaborate on what law enforcement agencies fall under the umbrella of "the Feds." Currently, the FBI, DEA and BATF have offices in Chicago that already help local police.

Although he admitted not knowing what Trump was talking about in his message, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday that he would support seeing more resources from those federal law enforcement agencies allotted to helping his department. Johnson — who hasn't been contacted by the Trump administration on this matter — also said he would like to see federal funds spent on non-law enforcement measures that could curb Chicago crime, such as creating mentorship programs.

In a Tuesday night interview conducted before Trump's tweet, Mayor Rahm Emanuel told WTTW-TV's "Chicago Tonight" he would welcome more support from the federal government when it comes to tackling the city's gun problem, suggesting help tracking firearms. Like Johnson, Emanuel also would like to see federal funds used to help develop projects like after-school programs for teens that target the social causes of crime and violence in Chicago and don't simply react to it.

“Over the years the federal government’s stepped back their resources, which we have stepped up,” Emanuel said. “The federal government can be a partner, and to be honest they haven’t been for decades.”

Some have taken Trump's use of "the Feds" to refer to deploying the National Guard on the streets of Chicago, an idea that has received traction in the past, including a now-closed Change.org petition requesting it. Normally, a state's governor must call in the National Guard, and Gov. Bruce Rauner said last year an "emotional" move like that "wouldn’t make sense." He maintained that stance in a radio interview on WGN-AM (720):

"We continue to believe it’s not the right thing for us to send in the National Guard," he said. "That would be a mistake."

Emanuel and Johnson both said Wednesday they also opposed any kind of federal support that involved troop deployment.

"In dealing with gangs and guns, you want the federal resources that are set up to deal with that," Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times. "That is ATF. That is DEA. That is the FBI. … The National Guard has nothing to do with public safety."

There are cases — such as stopping an insurrection — when the president and the U.S. Congress can federalize the guard, but they don't directly apply to Chicago's situation. The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits military units not under state control from being used for domestic law enforcement.

City aldermen echoed Johnson's and Emanuel's sentiments when it came to Trump's Tuesday night message concerning Chicago.

"We could use some federal help," Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) told the Tribune. "I don't think it should come in the form of troops. And I'm not sure what he meant by federal help. But in my mind, he's a law-and-order president. I'm thinking he's thinking troops. So I don't necessarily think we need that, but I do
think we need some help from the federal government, whether it's investing in neighborhoods, jobs, jobs over jails.

South Side Ald. Toni Foulkes (16th Ward) was even more blunt in her criticism of deploying the National Guard to help contain Chicago's crime and violence.

"For my communities, it would be an actual bloodbath," she told the Sun-Times.

She said ordering in the National Guard would send the wrong message to residents and cripple the reputation of a police department and city administration struggling to rebuild trust in the community after the Laquan McDonald shooting and the recent U.S. Justice Department findings.

Trump criticized Chicago's continuing wave of gun-related violence during his presidential campaign. During a Fox News interview in September, he said the city was "out of control" and suggested introducing stop and frisk, a controversial law enforcement policy that allows police to stop, question and pat down individuals without probable cause.

"If [police] see a person possibly with a gun or they think may have a gun, they will see the person, and they'll look, and they'll take the gun away, and they won't have anything to shoot with … ," he said in the interview. "How it's not being used in Chicago, to be honest, it's quite unbelievable. And the local police, they know who has a gun and who shouldn't be having a gun. They understand that."

As recently as Friday, Trump mentioned Chicago and its problems in a posting on the White House website, titled "Standing Up For Our Law Enforcement Community":

"The Trump Administration is committed to reducing violent crime. In 2015, homicides increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. There were thousands of shootings in Chicago last year alone."

UPDATED (12:29 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24)

President Donald Trump delivers his law-and-order speech that mentions Chicago at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (photo by Rick Uldricks)

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